Nathan Bech – Olver’s Daughter Reaches Out To Bech For Leadership

Martha Olver, daughter of United States Representative John W. Olver (D-Amherst), reached out to challenger Nathan Bech (R-West Springfield) for foreign policy leadership. In an unsolicited June 7th email to Bech, Olver wrote “Thank you so much for committing yourself to a campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives.” and went on to express concern about U.S.-Iran relations. Specifically, Olver described a fear that the two nations would soon engage in a military conflict.

Bech field coordinator Brian Haghighi, a second generation Iranian-American, said that he understood Olver’s misgivings about the current leadership in Washington. “I’m frankly not surprised. Martha Olver’s father has shown zero leadership on this issue. His statements that the U.S. government will soon bomb Iran, cancel the 2008 election, and declare martial law indicates that John Olver will resort to the worst kind of fabricated scare tactics. Who wouldn’t be frightened by this kind of unsubstantiated rhetoric?”, asked Haghighi.

The elder Olver made his dire predictions at Jones Library in Amherst while trying to dissuade Democratic constituents from pursuing presidential impeachment proceedings. The confrontation led West Stockbridge civil rights attorney Robert Feuer to challenge Olver for the Democratic nomination. Feuer is a public defender, former Olver supporter, and chairman of the town’s Democratic committee.

“It’s upsetting that John Olver is scaring his own daughter with his cooked-up conspiracy theories. I’d like to know where he gets his inside information. He has never been to any of the countries involved”, added Haghighi. Bech served as an Army officer in both Iraq and Afghanistan, two nations that border Iran. As a civilian, Bech also spent two years in Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian territories studying Middle East policy. “As someone with close family living in Iran, I often hear about the conflict going on between the people of Iran and their government. Nathan knows these issues just as well, so I can understand why Martha Olver is seeking guidance from him,” concluded Haghighi.

“I am not sure that we will win Martha’s vote in November, but I want every person in the first district to know they can reach out to me as their congressmen and know that they will be treated with respect,” said Bech. Bech dismissed the idea that the election would be cancelled. “John may not want to face a challenge this year, but I expect the November 2008 election to go on as planned,” Bech joked.